El Pollo Loco to start Houston revival with Sugar Land store

The Los Angeles-born chain of company-owned and franchise chicken grills will open a store at 4528 Highway 6 and Austin Parkway in Sugar Land in October, as well as four additional Houston-area stores in the next few months. Coming stores are slated for Copperfield, Katy, Humble and Spring.

In a release this week, the company said it has more than 20 Houston-area restaurant sites “in various stages of negotiation,” while identifying another 60 sites with potential for development.

Longtime restaurant-watchers may recall that El Pollo Loco has previously tested the Houston market. It shuttered its last three stores here in 1985, citing the city’s then-soft economy for the closings.

With more than 400 stores, El Pollo Loco specializes in Mexican-style marinated chicken that is fire-grilled. Similar chains that have made recent inroads in Houston include Pollo Tropical, El Pollo Bravo and Pollo Campero.

“Greater Houston is among the country’s fastest growing, most diverse metropolitan areas with residents who are passionate about ethnic cuisines, making it a natural fit for our brand’s expansion,” El Pollo Loco COO Kay Bogeajis said in a release. “We offer guests something a little different than many other restaurants available in the market, we call it ‘QSR-plus.’ It’s the place where the need for distinctive, authentic food meets today’s need for speed; the ‘plus’ means better service, better food, and better environment. We can’t wait to introduce Houstonians to El Pollo Loco this fall and demonstrate our points of differentiation.”